1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure is related to the field of intrusion detection, and more specifically to an intrusion monitor useable without the need to install electronics into a residence.
2. Description of the Related Art
Burglary is generally defined as breaking into a residence or other structure in order to commit theft. It is often a crime of opportunity, where a potential burglar locates an empty residence through a variety of measures and then enters the residence to take available money and easily sellable materials such as electronics and jewelry.
Burglary has been defined as criminal since the very first written criminal laws existed and is more prevalent than most people realize. It has been estimated that a burglary occurs in the United States every 15 seconds and that one in thirty-five homes will be burglarized in any given year. Burglary generally presents both a loss of property (with a value generally around $1500) and, often, a loss of far more. Having a home burglarized can result in loss of feelings of comfort or security and physical damage to the residence in addition to the loss of the items stolen.
While burglary is quite common, it is also reasonably easy to defeat. Any system which makes breaking into a residence take longer, or more likely to be detected, will often result in a burglary deterrence and therefore a potential burglar will pass on one residence in favor of an easier target. For this reason, homeowners regularly utilize all sorts of different deterrents including, but not limited to, sophisticated electronic burglary systems, automatic lighting systems, and dogs to deter would-be-burglars.
As effective as electronic systems can be, many of them share common problems. They are not readily useable in temporary or rental housing, they are expensive to install, and they require the presence of a third party monitoring company. In many respects, the technology of the intrusion alarm is based on technology which is from a prior generation. In today's modern era, the consumer is more mobile, both in their housing with rental and temporary property being utilized to a greater extent, and in their person where computer technology that a decade ago was confined to the desktop is now carried with them. Even with this, however, the electronic security system is little changed from what it was years ago.
The attitude of the modern consumer has also changed. The modern consumer is used to products which give control to them as opposed to a third party. Fountain drink dispensers have come out from behind the counter, the gas station attendant has been replaced by an in-pump credit card reader, and people can get information on anything and everything from their smartphones. The electronic security system, however, is still firmly grounded in the notion that security is best handled by professionals, even when there is no such need. In today's world there is demand for security systems that can be used anywhere the consumer may be located, whether its permanent housing, temporary housing, a hotel room, or even in a camper or their car.
In effect, the intrusion alarm which is a capital improvement in the form of a fixture attached to a residence is no longer a necessarily desirable upgrade in the same way that the advent of digital music distribution has rendered the built-in CD player almost a hindrance instead of a benefit. Where it used to be that the presence of an installed security system could increase a home's resale even though the new owner could still need to pay for the service to make it useful, such systems are no longer of interest to many buyers that would rather have control over who their security provider is, and particularly to eliminate the expense and hassle of having a security provide at all when they can handle the monitoring of the system themselves.